Performance Trap

It’s great to grow our church, especially to see more people coming to know the Lord. However, to grow our church must be taken as a purpose for our church rather a performance. The purpose gives us direction, motivation, and meaning. However, church growth today has become a challenge of wit, techniques and strategies. It is measured by management tools with regard to its effectiveness and efficiency. While these tools and techniques can be a guide, we must be careful not to let ourselves fall into the performance trap. God never calls every church to be big and pastoring a small church does not make us a failure. For that matter, we might not have considered Jesus’ ministry to be very effective or efficient if we were to measure Him by today’s standard. The greater question is whether we have done what God calls us to do. If God calls us to be like Paul who could lead thousands of people to God, praise be to God. (By the way, Paul was not successful in every town that he went to.) But if God calls us to a stubborn and stiff-necked generation like Ezekiel, praise God and be faithful to our call too. We praise God in both situations because we are fulfilling the will of God. If everybody is going for people who are easy to reach, then who would then bring the love of God to those whose hearts are hardened. I know we may have problems with our sending church, sending organization or our sponsors even, because they want to see results. But I would suggest that we stick to our calling and trust God to provide. It’s a sad thing, but it’s true. This performance trap has jeopardized the work of many. Some even ended up making up results just to secure the funds. Yes, we might say that they are dishonest, but how truthful are we to God if our sponsorship is based on performance. God’s ministry is not a transaction. Though it is similar to running a business, it cannot be run like a business fully. At the end of the day, we must ask ourselves whether we have done what God has called us to do, even if we do not see the performance we desire. We may not be fruitful in the eyes of many, but the Lord has borne His fruit in us already. The Lord will still say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Let us persevere even when our ministry is tough. Pray that the church today would have a greater sense of purpose rather than a pursue for performance. Amen.